On A Cold Winter's Night
by Red Witch
Summary: Pietro reflects on the meaning of family as the rest of the Brotherhood try to keep warm and drive Tabitha crazy.


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Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Except for very weird ideas. I was in a sappy mood when I wrote this. Poor Pietro. I've been reading those Burger King Dot comics and Magneto was such a jerk to him. So this came into my head.

**On A Cold Winter's Night**

Pietro shivered underneath the thin blankets. The last time he felt this cold was when…He struggled to push the dark memories away. He struggled not to cry at the memory of losing the one person he loved the most in the world. He wrapped his arms around himself and rocked back and forth in the bed. It was like half of himself had been torn away that horrible day. There were times he could hardly remember her face.

In the darkness that he hated so much was the one time he could admit to himself the awful truth. He wanted his father. 

Just once, just once he wanted his father to come to him and hold him. He wanted him to say: "Well done my son." Or "It's all right Pietro." Just any kind of fatherly acknowledgement. 

"Yeah like that'll ever happen," Pietro muttered to himself. "Jerk. How could he leave me without a word? Didn't even say goodbye."

He thought back to when he was recruited into the Brotherhood. "I have need of your services," He muttered. "Not I want you to come, but I have need of your services. Like I was some hired hand…That's all I am to him." He closed his eyes tightly and willed himself not to cry. 

_He'll come back,_ a voice inside him tried to reason. _He has to come back._

_Yeah. When he wants me to do more of his dirty work for him. _

Why didn't he come back for me? Why doesn't he want me? Even on Asteroid M he was more interested in the X-Geeks than he was with me! Magneto you are a jerk! Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!

A distant pounding woke him up from his reverie. He zipped out of his bed to find Lance and Todd pounding at Tabitha's door. 

"You can't lock yourself in there forever yo!" Todd snapped.

"Wanna bet?" Tabitha shouted. 

"Come on Tabby it's freezing out here!" Lance's teeth were chattering. 

"Forget it guys," Fred shook his head. "There's no way to get into that room when the door's locked."

"You know Tabby you have that heater and that huge bed," Pietro snapped at her door. You could at least let us bunk on the floor or something!"

"Yeah like I'd trust a bunch of hormone driven morons like you," Tabitha shouted out. "Nice try!" 

"I'm so cold…" Todd whined. "I hate the cold. Stupid Tabby not letting us share the heater!"

"Well we could share beds again," Lance sighed. "Wonderful!"

"Well who goes with who tonight?" Todd asked. 

"I'll get the marbles," Pietro zipped to his room and grabbed a small satchel and four marbles. Two red and two blue. He dropped them in. "Okay you know the drill, whoever's marble's match is who your bunkmate is."

Lance picked a red marble. Pietro picked a blue one. Todd picked a blue one. "Oh no…" Lance groaned. 

"Goody!" Fred grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to his room. "Hey! Let's munch on some snacks and play card games first! Oh better yet! We'll make shadow puppets!"

"Not the shadow puppets," Lance moaned. "I'm gonna die…I'm gonna die…"

"Well do it quietly I'm trying to sleep in here!" Tabitha shouted from her room.

"The honeymoon is definitely over sister!" Pietro shouted as they went back to their rooms. 

Pietro sighed. He really didn't want to share a bed again, but anything was better than freezing alone in the dark. Todd may not have been his first or tenth choice as a bunkmate but at least he listened to him. Sometimes. At least Todd wouldn't squash him while he was sleeping. 

Todd hopped into Pietro's bed and Pietro reluctantly followed him. Pietro made a mental observation. Todd didn't smell too bad. _Great, now I'm used to Toad's smell!_

"Pietro?" Todd's voice was very small. "Can I ask you something?"

"Why not?" Pietro sighed. 

"Do frogs go to heaven?"

"What?"

"I was just thinking about Harry. You know my frog?"

"I remember," Pietro rubbed his eyes. 

"Well do you think he's in heaven?"

"Yes," Pietro decided that a simple lie was the fastest way to get Todd to shut up and go to sleep. He really didn't believe in anything but himself. "Now go to sleep."

He was just about to drop off when Todd's voice woke him up again. "Pietro…?"

"Yes Toad," Pietro sighed. "Fish go to heaven too. Everybody goes to heaven. There's a cat heaven and a dog heaven and a giraffe heaven and a…"

"Not that," Todd said. "Do you…ever pretend that we're all brothers? For real?" 

"What?" That got Pietro's attention. 

"I never had any brothers or sisters so…" Todd played with his webbed fingers. "Sometimes I like to pretend…you know?" 

"Yeah…" Pietro looked at him. "I guess we kinda are brothers. Sort of. Everybody else dumped us." 

"So…it's not stupid that I sometimes pretend that we're family?" Todd asked with wide eyes. 

Pietro looked at him. _Okay he may be annoying_, Pietro thought. _But he's not all bad. He really does act like a little brother sometimes. _"No," He smiled and ruffled the younger boy's hair. "Now get some sleep, little bro."

"Okay big bro," Todd smiled and closed his eyes.

Pietro watched him a few seconds. He looked so different when he was asleep. So innocent and trusting. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Hey Toad?" He asked after a minute. 

"Yeah?"

"Wanna tease our sister?"

"YEAH!" Todd had a wicked gleam in his eye. 

A few minutes later there was a horrible racket outside Tabitha's door. Pietro was playing some cymbals and Todd were banging on pots and pans and blowing a kazoo. "What are you guys doing?" Lance asked as he and Fred peeked out into the hallway.

"We're driving Tabby nuts," Todd informed him before he continued marching back and forth in front of her door.

"Guys don't do that," Lance went back in the room. He came out again with an old trumpet. "Use this! It's louder!" 

"I've got a drum!" Fred got one out of his room. Soon they were all marching outside Tabitha's room, making a racket. 

"Will you jerks stop making a racket!" Tabitha screamed, opening the door. "They can probably hear you at the Geek…Hey!" Pietro and Todd managed to sneak into her room. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" 

"Make us!" Todd stuck his tongue out at her as he bounced up and down on the bed. 

Fred and Lance laughed and rushed into the room as well, knocking Tabitha onto the floor. "GET OUT OR I'LL FRY YOU!" She snarled. 

"No way!" Lance smirked. "We're staying!"

"Wanna bet?" She made an energy bomb and lobbied it at them. Feathers flew everywhere. The boys ducked and lobbied pillows at her. "CHARGE!" She ran at them. 

The next morning Tabitha's room was covered with feathers and slime. Tabitha was curled up on a sofa next to the bed. Fred was passed out on the floor. Lance, Todd and Pietro were on the bed. Pietro's eyes fluttered open at the sound of Fred's snoring. 

He took in the scene with some amusement. Okay maybe they were not his real family, but they were there. They were with him. He wasn't alone anymore and that was what mattered. 


End file.
